PoFo FAQ: Signatures and Avatars depicting Hitler and Nazis - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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Frequently asked questions regarding the Politics Forum's policy on signatures and avatars depicting Hitler and the Nazis.

On the Politics Forum, use of the signature and avatar graphics that depict any of the following are prohibited:

  • Adolf Hitler.
  • Nazis convicted of war crimes or who committed suicide to avoid being tried for war crimes.
  • The swastika.
  • SS insignia.

The above prohibition is simple, ergo it is easy for all members to understand and abide by. The basis in the forum rules for the prohibition is that they violate forum rule three: "You are prohibited from transmitting through PoliticsForum any hateful or racially, sexually or ethnically objectionable material".

From those people who for whatever reason would choose to use the images prohibited above we tend to get a number of follow-up questions, which are answered below:

  1. Why is this Nazi imagery prohibited?
  2. This is an outrage! Stalin/Churchill/whoever killed more people than those poor Nazis. Isn't this just hypocrisy?
  3. Why can't I use Nazi images in an anti-Nazi graphic?
  4. I want to use a non-Nazi swastika, why can't I?
  5. Can I use images showing other people who were Nazis?


  1. Why is this Nazi imagery prohibited?

    The Nazi images prohibited represent a 'perfect storm' of legal, financial and ethical issues as well as running contrary to our mission statement:

    • Legal: There are laws in a number of European countries that prohibit hate speech and the promotion or aggrandising of Nazism specifically. For example:

      Strafgesetzbuch, Section 130 wrote:Incitement to hatred [...]

      (3) Whosoever publicly or in a meeting approves of, denies or downplays an act committed under the rule of National Socialism of the kind indicated insection 6 (1) of the Code of International Criminal Law, in a manner capable of disturbing the public peace shall be liable to imprisonment of not more than five years or a fine.

      (4) Whosoever publicly or in a meeting disturbs the public peace in a manner that violates the dignity of the victims by approving of, glorifying, or justifying National Socialist rule of arbitrary force shall be liable to imprisonment of not more than three years or a fine.


      Whether or not one personally feels that Nazi graphics violate those laws, or if those laws do not apply to oneself because of residing beyond their jurisdiction is not relevant. The Politics Forum seeks to comply with those laws by prohibiting use of Nazi imagery because:

      • We respect that many of our members do live within jurisdictions where those laws apply.
      • It helps us to avoid the future possibility of having to filter or restrict our content in those countries as a result of a court order.
      • It would be unduly burdensome to expect the moderators to interpret which graphics might violate those laws on a case-by-case basis. A legal task for which they are not qualified.

      We also have obligations to uphold contracts with third parties such as our hosting company, which prohibit racist material. It is not practical to contact them and request approval for every single graphic that a member might wish to use, and in any event, they would not accept such a burden.

    • Financial: This site is partly paid for by advertising revenue. In a perfect world we would not need to have advertisements on our website, but reality is that server resources cost money. As with our hosting company, we have agreements with advertising networks to uphold. It is not sensible to risk breaking those agreements by trying to get as close as we can to the line of what is or is not acceptable. The bottom line is advertisers don't want their products or brands associated with the Nazis.

    • Ethical: It is a fact that using the prohibited graphics would offend a great many people who use our website because those people believe they represent something fundamentally wrong. In itself that might not even be a problem, since we attempt to be tolerant of as many views as possible even if they are unpopular, but any imagery that might promote Nazism also runs contrary to the values in our mission statement. While we seek to be tolerant of others, tolerance is the very virtue with which Nazism is incompatible.
      The Politics Forum Mission Statement wrote:Tolerance - What is beyond the boundaries of acceptability and is totally impermissible on this forum is pure unadulterated hate that calls for extermination and evades dialogue. This forum is no place for calling for the eradication of racial and religious groups by violence and murder. It is our belief that such extreme intolerant hate speech is entirely incompatible with reasoned discussion, as it rules out from the start the possibility of understanding or respect for others.

      The prohibited Nazi graphics represent an abhorrence that is not consistent with the very ethos of our community.

  2. This is an outrage! Stalin/Churchill/whoever killed more people than those poor Nazis. Isn't this just hypocrisy?

    First things first, the number of people killed is irrelevant. The number of people killed by the Nazis is not given as a reason for the images being prohibited.

    Secondly, we are not aware of any laws that specifically single out Stalin or others as being associated with hate-speech, so there are no legal complexities there.

    Thirdly, while it can be argued that the killing of people by sending them to the Soviet Gulag, or the fire-bombing of Dresden might be criminal acts, those things are not equivalent to the systematic extermination of a group of people for no other reason than being born into that group - the Holocaust. The attempt by the Nazis to murder every Jew in Europe is a crime that is unique in its combination of factory scale murder and arbitrary discrimination. People who try to excuse Nazi actions often attempt to sidestep the Holocaust by pretending it didn't happen - in such case one also falls back into the legal problems above as Holocaust denial is against the law in some European countries. This forum accepts the Holocaust as historical fact, so we do not accept Holocaust denial arguments as legitimising use of Nazi images.

    As mentioned above, the Nazis represent a 'perfect storm' of problems. That combination of so many issues together just does not apply to any other group.

    If the above explanation is still not satisfactory for you then you will just have to settle for believing that comrade Stalin runs the Politics Forum from beyond the grave as part of the Communist-Liberal-Gay-Jew-Muslim-Lizard-Banker international conspiracy for global domination.

  3. Why can't I use Nazi images in an anti-Nazi graphic?

    While there may be no objection to this in principle, in terms of pure practicality the rules are much easier to enforce if they are kept simple. The inclusion of exemptions will inevitably lead to grey areas and some members trying to find 'the line' in those grey areas. What is clearly satire to one person will still offend another and it will lead to moderators having to make judgement calls that will never satisfy everyone.

    It will also lead to confusion amongst new users who will see such images used in a different context and might assume that they are okay to be used generally when they are not.

  4. I want to use a non-Nazi swastika, why can't I?

    The reality is that across the Western World the reputation of the swastika has been irreparably destroyed by its use by the Nazis. Whilst this forum has members from all parts of the world, it is a fact that the vast majority come from North America, Europe and Australasia. Even if a swastika image is not of Nazi origin it is going to offend if it looks like a Nazi swastika.

    It is possible that use of a swastika in an image might be permitted if it is clearly not of Nazi origin. One should ask the moderators about it.

    Examples:
    • The swastika used by the Finnish air-force in insignias and flags will almost certainly never be approved for use because it resembles the Nazi swastika so closely.
    • Hindu swastikas might be approved if they are ornate enough to be very clearly different from Nazi swastikas and the member requesting its use is clearly doing so in good faith, because they have a good reason that its inclusion in a graphic is needed.

  5. Can I use images showing other people who were Nazis?

    Provided nothing prohibited is included in the image then it is permissible to use an image of a person who was a member of the Nazi party if they were not convicted of war crimes - although in most cases moderation team cannot fathom why one would want to do so. One might want to also first consider how it might reflect on oneself before using such an image.

    Please also note: If the manner in which the images are used does not seem to the moderators to be within the spirit of the forum rules, mission statement or the law then the images may be removed anyway, for the same reasons as all of the above.

    Examples:
    • Erwin Rommel is fine - he was not a member of the Nazi party.
    • Oskar Schindler is fine - he was a Nazi party member who famously worked against the Holocaust.
    • Otto Skorzeny has been deemed acceptable as an avatar so long as no SS insignia is visible in the image, since he was not convicted of war crimes.
    • Karl Dönitz is not acceptable. He was briefly Reichspräsident (head of state) of Nazi Germany and was convicted of war crimes.

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